Disney Stars and Underage Drinking

Recent party photos of Demi Lovato have sparked a debate about Disney Channel celebrities and underage drinking. This week, Demi Lovato hosted a graduation/album release party where it was rumored that alcohol was served. Although reports suggest that

Demi Lovato herself had only one drink, photos on ZackTaylor.ca show a bottle of Sky Vodka and her inebriated sister, Dallas.

While a few drinks at a party are hardly anything to write home about, it’s worth examining questions about Disney Channel stars and underage drinking. Can the current crop of Disney Channel stars avoid the mistakes of the previous generation of stars such as Britney Spears and Lindsay Lohan? If these underage Disney Channel stars choose to drink, can they do it responsibly while ensuring that they have a designated driver?

Disney Channel Stars and Underage Drinking: Statistics

According to the US Department of Health and Human Services, 9.9 percent of 12- to 17-year-olds reported binge drinking on at least one day of the past thirty days. If you look at the number of high school kids who drank in the last month, the percentage increases to 25.5 percent! And the percentage of high school students who rode in a car with someone who had been drinking in the thirty days before the survey was 28.5 percent.

It is important for Disney Channel stars such as Miley Cyrus, Demi Lovato, and Selena Gomez to make healthy choices about drinking. As teen role models, they can influence the way teens perceive underage drinking and drinking and driving.

Disney Channel Stars and Underage Drinking: The Current Stars

The current generation of Disney Channel stars could go either way. The most controversial case of drinking and partying was the Cody Linley photo scandal. Star had posted pictures of the Hannah Montana actor drunkenly kissing girls and letting them draw on his chest. Yet Demi Lovato was quick to defend him on Twitter, arguing that he was a good guy and that everyone makes mistakes.

Miley Cyrus, in spite of her knack for controversy, is actually relatively straight-edged. We rarely hear about her drinking or partying. And Selena Gomez tends to stay out of trouble herself. As for Demi Lovato, according to MTV, John Mayer has spoken highly of her and her talent, saying that she had “a huge career in front of her…depending on the decisions she makes in her life.”